


The Lonely and the Lost

by gottacatchghosts (octolingkiera)



Series: phic phight '19 [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Gen, nothing on screen, tw death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 22:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18678994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octolingkiera/pseuds/gottacatchghosts
Summary: From Phic Phight 2019Prompt: Jazz is crying again. Phantom turns from his window and leaves.two chapters, two different takes on the prompt.





	1. The Lonely

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bibliophilea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bibliophilea/gifts).



> i wrote two versions of this prompt bc i wasn’t happy with this first one so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here’s the first take on this prompt!!

Jazz is crying again. She does it a lot these days. She sits in her room, wrapped up in her blankets like a human burrito, and cries. Sometimes it’s those jolting, full body sobs that look like that rip at her throat on their way out, but other times, more often than not, they’re soft cries. Soft and gentle and morbidly beautiful in the way that only tears can be.

Phantom worries about her, even though he doesn’t know who she is.

Phantom woke up alone in the basement of this house a little over a month ago with no memory of who he was or how he got here, only that he was a ghost and that he was dead. He floated aimlessly around the house until Jack and Maddie came home and scared him so badly that he learned about his new invisibility and intangibility powers.

The two chased him around for several hours until he finally outpaced them enough that he lost them. He eventually wandered back to this house, the place that he knew he must’ve died in, to find the three of them, this family, huddled together crying. There were cars with flashy lights sitting outside and people in uniforms were milling about.

Listening to conversations, he learned that they’d found what had to be him when he was alive.

Phantom had then retreated through the glowing portal in the basement for a bit. The swirling green called to him in a way nothing else ever had and he stayed there for about a week before coming back out, anxious to see this little family of three again.

That was the first time he saw Jazz crying, though he didn’t know her name yet. He was temped to try and comfort her, for some reason, but her mom came in and Phantom made himself scarce.

The Fenton parents scare him. Their enthusiasm to chase him strikes him with fear that they’ll hurt him if they so much as catch a glimpse of him. So, he stays hidden. And Jazz cries.

Phantom turns from the window and leaves. There’s nothing left for him here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> crossposted to tumblr [here](https://gottacatchghosts.tumblr.com/post/184286983206/the-lonely)


	2. And the Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here’s version two!! i liked this one a lot better and it’s closer to my original plan for this prompt than the first one was. idr exactly where it was going but i’m happy with it lol

“Jazz, I have to go. For real this time.”

She sniffs, hard, and Phantom’s heart squeezes. “No, you don’t,” she says in that special way people do when they’re trying to speak through heavy sobs. Phantom can’t look at her but he knows her eyes are red rimmed and there’s wet streaks down her face.

“I do,” he tells her, again, gazing out at the starry sky. His core sings at the sight and the urge to fly is almost a physical ache. “You… You can’t stop me.”

Jazz heaves another sob, the chest quaking kind, and Phantom closes his eyes against the sound, clenching his fists. “Please don’t go, Danny. _Please_.”

“I’m sorry Jazz.” Phantom hates making her cry. He feels like it’s all he does these days, but he just keeps doing it. Everything about this situation sucks but what can he do? He’s dead but she’s still alive, still has a life to live and colleges to apply for and be accepted into. What could he do, anyway? Ghosts can’t go to school or college or get jobs or, or _pay a mortgage_.

Besides. Better he leaves now than get caught by their ghost hunting parents.

“Danny, we can work this out!” Jazz jolts forward a few steps and reaches for his hand. She shivers at the touch because he’s absolutely freezing, but she squeezes tight, silently begging him to squeeze back. “We can get through this!”

“No, we can’t!” Phantom wants to rip his hand back, but this is Jazz, so he settles for sliding out of her grip intangibly. “Mom and Dad won’t accept this. They’ll never get past their prejudice, and the first thing they’ll do when they see me is blast me with whatever weapon they have.” His eyes close as he slumps forward, barely resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “It won’t just… We can’t get past this Jazz.”

“We can! We just have to make them—!”

“Jazz, I’m dead! I died! That lab accident killed me! Just because you’re okay with my whole _situation_ ,” and here he paused just long enough to gesture at himself, “doesn’t mean they will be! Just because we've never _seen_ ghosts before I turned the portal on doesn’t mean that Mom and Dad don’t _hunt_ them. Even before the accident they always went on and on about how they wanted to rip ghosts apart ‘molecule by molecule.’” Phantom takes a breath he doesn't need any more and pushes his bangs out of his face. Jazz can see his hands trembling and feels a fresh wave of tears.

“I can’t do this, Jazz. I can’t tell them I’m—that I used to be their son. I can’t tell them I'm a _ghost_. _They._ _Can’t_. _Know_.” Phantom straightens his shoulders and his eyes flash to a brighter, more threatening green for a second.

If Jazz hadn’t known Phantom—as the ghost he is now—for the last couple months, she would’ve been scared. As it is, she can recognize the intimidation tactic for what it is. “You’re just scared,” she says, scrubbing her cheeks with the heels of her hands. “Scared of what they’ll think, what they’ll do.”

“Of _course_ , I’m scared!” Phantom bursts, raising his voice. It echoes strangely around the room and Jazz feels her ears pop and her skin buzz. Phantom’s glow flares a little and Jazz can’t help but wonder if this is some latent ability he’s unconsciously unlocking. “I’m fucking _terrified_!” He slams a hand over his mouth and sinks to the floor, collapsing into a pile of limbs under the window. The night breeze wafts in, unperturbed.

“Danny—”

“I have to go, Jazz.” Phantom’s voice is small and Jazz is reminded of how Danny used to sneak into her room some nights when they were kids because he’d had a nightmare and their parents were still toiling away in the lab. He’d come to her for comfort and attention and Jazz was always happy to give it to him. She aches to do the same now, but everything’s so different, she doesn’t think she can. “I have to go before they find out.” _When_ , Jazz's mind supplies. _Not if._

She knows he’s right and she hates it.

“Okay,” she says, whispers, finally. “Okay, fine. You win.” She sniffs, hard, and tucks her arms close to her chest. “You’re leaving.”

“Yeah,” he breathes out, hunching his shoulders as he climbs to his feet. Despite being a ghost fully capable of flight, his insistence on staying grounded says more to Jazz than anything. Phantom has made it no secret that he loves flying with his whole being. “Yeah,” he says again, head bowed as if defeated. Once he’s standing, his feet leave the ground without a sound.

Jazz is crying again. Phantom turns from his window and leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> crossposted to tumblr [here](https://gottacatchghosts.tumblr.com/post/184286983861/and-the-lost)

**Author's Note:**

> tell me which one you like better!! :3


End file.
